Seaham Hall is an

English country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

, now run as a spa hotel, in

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

History

Seaham Hall was built in the 1790s by

Sir Ralph Milbanke, 6th Baronet Sir Ralph Noel, 6th Baronet (28 July 1747 – 19 March 1825) was a British landowner and politician, and father-in-law of Lord Byron. Before 1815 he was known as Sir Ralph Milbanke. Biography He was the eldest son of Sir Ralph Milbanke, 5th Baro ...

. In 1815 the poet

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

married

Anne Isabella Milbanke Anne Isabella Noel Byron, 11th Baroness Wentworth and Baroness Byron (''née'' Milbanke; 17 May 1792 – 16 May 1860), nicknamed Annabella and commonly known as Lady Byron, was wife of poet George Gordon Byron, more commonly known as Lord Byro ...

at Seaham Hall. The fruit of their marriage was

Ada Lovelace Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (''née'' Byron; 10 December 1815 – 27 November 1852) was an English mathematician and writer, chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the A ...

, the mathematician and pioneer of computing.

Londonderry

Seaham Hall was one of the many properties acquired by

Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, (born Charles William Stewart; 1778–1854), was an Anglo-Irish nobleman, a British soldier and a politician. He served in the French Revolutionary Wars, in the suppression of the Irish Rebell ...

through his second marriage to Lady Frances Anne Vane-Tempest in 1819. She was one of the greatest heiresses of the time. She stood to inherit nearly . They purchased the Seaham estate in 1821 from Sir Ralph Milbanke for £63,000 and developed it into what is now the modern harbour town of

Seaham Seaham is a seaside town in County Durham, England. Located on the Durham Coast, Seaham is situated south of Sunderland and east of Durham. The town grew from the late 19th century onwards as a result of investments in its harbour and c ...

. This town was designed to rival nearby

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

. The title Viscount Seaham was created as a

courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but rather is used through custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some co ...

for

the eldest son ''The Eldest Son'' is a 1912 play by the British writer John Galsworthy. Although first written in 1909, it was until three years later that a version was produced. It ran for 47 performances at the Novelty Theatre, Kingsway Theatre in London's ...

of the marriage, who became Earl Vane on his father's death; however, when the 4th Marquess of Londonderry died childless Earl Vane inherited the Londonderry titles and his eldest son took the courtesy title Viscount Castlereagh. However, for much of his life the 5th Marquess lived at

Plas Machynlleth Plas Machynlleth is the former Wales, Welsh residence of the Marquess of Londonderry, Marquesses of Londonderry. It is situated in the market town of Machynlleth in Powys (formerly Montgomeryshire), Wales. It was brought into the family following ...

, his wife's home in

Montgomeryshire Montgomeryshire, also known as ''Maldwyn'' ( cy, Sir Drefaldwyn meaning "the Shire of Baldwin's town"), is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It is named after its county tow ...

. The family did not spend much time at Seaham but used their Irish house -

Mount Stewart Mount Stewart is a 19th-century house and garden in County Down, Northern Ireland, owned by the National Trust. Situated on the east shore of Strangford Lough, a few miles outside the town of Newtownards and near Greyabbey, it was the Iris ...

, which was more impressive. Benjamin Disraeli visited Seaham Hall in 1861. Following the death of the 6th Marquess in 1915, his son the 7th Marquess put the hall at the disposal of the authorities to use as a hospital during the

Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and it subsequently continued in use as a general hospital before closing in 1978.

Modern use

The building during the 1980s and 1990s has been redeveloped as a hotel, a nursing home and finally a luxury 5 star hotel and Spa. In 1984, it was acquired by the Jalal family of Sunderland, who worked at rebuilding, renovating and returning the deteriorated building to its former glory. It was opened in 1985 as the Seaham Hall Hotel and remained in the hands of the Jalal family for nearly six years. In 1991, it was sold by the Jalal family to Dr Mohinder Singh Mullea, a local doctor who also owned Tara House, an old people's residential home, and was officially converted to an old people’s home in 1991. In June 1997, Seaham Hall was purchased by a local businessman, Tom Maxfield, and his wife Jocelyn. The rundown, derelict building was transformed into the 5-star luxury hotel and spa and became part of the Tom's Company group of hotels.

References

Seaham Hall at Keys to the PastThe history of Seaham at Keys to the PastHistoric photos of Seaham Hall

External links

Seaham Hall hotel website
{{Authority control Hotel spas Hotels in County Durham Houses in County Durham Lewis Vulliamy buildings Seaham Vane-Tempest-Stewart family Grade II listed buildings in County Durham

History

Londonderry

Modern use

See also

References

External links